The last few days of the holiday passed by with the sound of cicadas chirping in the background.
This first holiday since Akifumi Mugiho regained his past life memories ended as expected, without any particularly notable events or extra memories.
'There are so many people,' Akifumi thought, sighing quietly as he stood in the packed train.
He was heading back to school, but he didn't feel too sad about the end of the break.
'Maybe it's because I spent all of August busy?'
'Going back to school almost felt like a relief, like I could finally take a breather.'
'Plus, my sleep schedule had been pretty good, and I didn't have any of those bad habits of lying in bed for too long.'
'So, no real sense of regret as the break came to an end.'
Soon, the train arrived at our stop.
Akifumi and Shiina Mahiru got off together.
As we walked side by side, Shiina couldn't help but comment with a bit of a sigh, "Even though we're such good friends, you haven't kept in touch with Kato-san this entire month!"
"I've been in touch," Akifumi replied.
"Eh?!" She seemed surprised and asked curiously, "When?"
"End of July, early August, mid-August. We've talked," Akifumi said.
"After all, Kato was my first friend at school."
Keeping in touch seemed like the natural thing to do.
Even if it was just sending a quick text, it was still contact!
She tilted her head, "Then why didn't you invite Kato to hang out, like at the amusement park, or the pool, or the summer festival?"
She blushed a bit and thought to herself,
'I kind of wanted to try going with you too, Akifumi-kun...'
'Although just being together with him was already enough to make me happy, there was still a small part of me that wished for a little more.'
'Unfortunately, though, I never found the chance to speak up, even until the holiday ended.'
Akifumi looked at her with a surprised expression.
"You don't want to go out in this heat, are you?"
She paused for a moment, then replied, "No, I don't."
Akifumi nodded knowingly.
"See? Even you don't want to go out in this heat. What makes you think Kato would want to?"
"Don't even need to think about it—she definitely wouldn't want to go out either!"
She seemed like she might disagree, but there was nothing she could say.
'If Kato were here, she probably think the same, right?'
Shiina felt a little guilty for not being fully honest, but she just smiled and nodded.
"Yeah, I guess staying home is more comfortable on such a hot day."
Akifumi gave a satisfied nod.
'I knew it.' Akifumi thought to himself how amusing it was that she was spending so much time with Eriri that her personality had rubbed off to Shiina.
She used to be more straightforward, but now...
'She's become more like her!'
He could tell she wasn't being entirely honest, though.
Not everyone can just stay home like Eriri and he do, but Akifumi wouldn't change that for anything.
Even if Akifumi were with someone he liked, he wouldn't let her change his habits.
He might compromise a bit, but not much.
Anyway, his relationship with Shiina wasn't quite at that stage yet.
Akifumi was just enjoying the way she took care of me.
But, before he could think too deeply about it, Shiina suddenly brought up something that had been on her mind since before the holiday.
"Akifumi-kun, you're really good at keeping things to yourself, huh?" She grinned a little.
"You've been thinking about something for an entire summer but never said anything about it. Why didn't you bring it up sooner?"
Akifumi was a little surprised but asked, "What is it?"
She took a deep breath and gave me a serious look. "Why do you always call Kato-san 'Kato'?"
"Huh?" Akifumi blinked, unsure of where this was going.
"Why not add the 'san'?" She frowned.
"Isn't it too informal?"
Akifumi couldn't help but laugh.
"Kato is a very common name around here, and it just sounds better that way."
She puffed out her cheeks in annoyance.
"Then why do you still call me 'Shiina-san'? Isn't that a bit much?"
Akifumi froze for a second, genuinely stumped by the question.
Before he could come up with an answer, she added with a mischievous smile, "I think it's pretty annoying when you add 'san' after my name."
At that moment, it felt like she had set a trap for him, and waiting for him to fall in.
'So that's what this was about.'
She looked at Akifumi with a sly grin.
"Could you drop the 'san' from now on?"
This girl…
Akifumi sighed in defeat.
"Shiina?"
For some reason, when he dropped the 'san', it felt like their relationship had just gotten a little closer.
'What is happening?'
Suddenly, his heart was racing, even though he knew it wasn't anything big.
He was no longer thinking like a person in their thirties.
And what was this weird sensation?
The closeness?
He could even smell the jasmine fragrance of her shampoo from here.
As I was processing all this, Shiina, seemingly unaware, raised her voice in a playful tone.
"You're not happy with that, Akifumi-kun~?"
Akifumi froze. 'She's way too cute!'
How does anyone resist this kind of charm?
"Long time no see, Kato-san~!" She greeted with a smile as Akifumi entered with Shiina.
Kato glanced up from where she was sitting, her expression neutral.
"Long time no see, Shiina-san."
She glanced between Akifumi and Shiina, raising an eyebrow.
'Why does it feel like Shiina-san is in a much better mood today?'
'Oh, maybe she was just heard something funny on the way here?'
But Kato soon turned her gaze to me and joked, "Even after a whole summer apart, you still make those cold jokes, huh?"
Akifumi smirked.
"If you think they're funny, then why don't you show it on your face?"
Kato didn't react at first but then said calmly,
"Good morning, by the way. Long time no see."
.......
[TL Note]
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